Northern Italy Trip Report: Venice, Padua, Dolomites and Bologna

Day 2 (18,117 steps)

St. Mark’s. The one thing I wanted to do while in Venice was go to Sunday mass at St. Mark’s. We had visited St Mark’s on our previous trip where we had listened to the Rick Steves tour, had gone upstairs to see the mosaics up close as well as the original horses. This time I just wanted to be in the church and experience it as a sacred space. We went to 10 am mass which you enter through the left side door. There were quite a few people there (which made it hot). The choir sang which provided a fitting setting for the mosaic tiles which glimmered in the lit church. From participation in mass, I surmised that quite a few people were Italian, although I have no idea whether they were Venetian. Of course, I understood not a word of the sermon and spent my time taking in the beauty of the space.
St Marks is undergoing construction and there is this big pen in front of it where tools and machines are stored and locked. So there is not presently a view of the entire church from the square. I was very glad I had been there earlier when you could.

La Salute church. Afterwards, we went to visit La Salute church. With its prominent white dome, it is quite the landmark and I had wanted to go inside the church when we visited previously. We tried without success to find the Traghetto across the Grand Canal so we could experience a gondola ride without paying gondola ride prices. We somehow missed it and ended up on the Academia bridge which worked as well to cross the Grand Canal. We enjoyed going through the little lanes and seeing the church dome become closer and closer. The inside I must admit was not as striking as the outside apart from the black Madonna (which apparently is from Crete). That was meaningful to us having visited Crete.

Lunch at Traverna San Trovaso. We were quite hot by now and we needed a restful place to spend some time before a tour I had scheduled at Museo Correr. We made our way back past the Academia to a little place on a canal, Traverna S. Trovaso, where we had lunch (also recommended on the forum). It was well air conditioned and thus revived us. We had spritzes, seafood cicchetti, and then my husband had lasagna and I had cuttlefish with black ink spaghetti. I had wanted to try it for some time; Stanley Tucci had made it in his show on Venice and it was a favorite of Montabano in the book series set in Sicily. I liked it a lot. My husband did not. We spent 65 Euros for lunch. Again, we had too much food. Dinner subsequently was a couple squares of pizza and beer from a neighborhood shop.

Tour of Royal Rooms at Museo Correr. On our way to lunch, we spotted where the Traghetto to cross the Grand Canal that we had missed earlier was located. We looped back to try to cross the Grand Canal the other way. But with no luck. It was 2:45 pm and supposedly it closed at 3:00pm but we were told no more for the day.
We took the vaporetto instead.
The tour we took had less than 10 people on it and showcased the various rooms associated with the Bonapartes, Hapsburgs, and Savoys while they resided in Venice. It was an interesting look into the history of Venice through the lives of these royals. Afterwards, you can wander through the rest of the museum and we did for awhile.
It was in English at 10:30 am and 3:30 pm. Tickets were 11 Euros each.

Interpreti Veneziani Orchestra at Chiesa San Vadal near the Academia Bridge. We bought tickets this morning for Four Seasons. Tickets are 26 Euros each for seniors and 32 otherwise. It is a church so seating is not assigned. We arrived early enough to get seats about five rows back on the right side.
We were close enough that we could see the musicians’ hands playing the instruments. It really was a marvelous experience and we are not frequent concert goers.

Day 3 (17,487 steps)

Burano and Torcello. We got up early today and took the vaporetto first to Burano and then to Torcello. We went from the Fondamente Nove stop (Line 12) which turned to be about a 25 minute walk from where we were staying. The vaporetto was not crowded and it was an enjoyable ride. We found a little café on the other side of the island and watched some men loading and unloading supplies. It is hard to imagine how everything on Burano has to come (and go) on a boat.
While the houses were still brightly colored, they seemed more ordinary the second time around. Still, we wandered some, had a morning gelato, and tried to visit the lace museum which we had arrived too late to see when we were here before. But it was closed because it was Monday.

After a couple hours, we took another vaporetto to Torcello, where we had not been.
The island is an interesting one to stroll on. You walk by a canal and there are restaurants along the way. There were not many people the day we went. It is hard to imagine that Venice actually started here.
The Cathedral of the Assumption which was built in 639 has several outstanding mosaics that we really enjoyed seeing. A word to the wise though. There are no places to sit and no photos are allowed. I would have liked to have sat and taken in the mosaics.
We also climbed the bell tower which is over 40 meters high. It allowed for a breathtaking view of the lagoon which provided a unique sense of geography of the area. We paid 9 Euros each for both the Cathedral and the bell tour.

You have to take a vaporetto back to Burano to return to Venice. The one to Burano was quick but we had to wait awhile for the return to Venice. We bought some food and had a picnic sitting on benches in the meantime.
Teatro La Fenice My husband really wanted to go here so we did, even though I told him it is not even listed in the Rick Steves guidebook. Well, it was fine but I have been to more interesting opera houses (thinking of Paris and Palermo) and would have spent our limited time elsewhere. Tickets were 9 Euros.

When we came out, it was absolutely pouring with no sign of letting up. Rain was forecasted for later in the day but it was sunny and clear when we left so we foolishly did not take our raincoats. We ended up buying two umbrellas for 10 Euros each from a vender who magically appeared under the covered area where we were waiting the rain out. It was a good call as we had to walk to the vaporetto and then from the vaporetto to our apartment in pouring rain. I ended up leaving my umbrella in Padua (our next stop) as I did not want to carry it all over Italy. The owner of the Airbnb (who I told I was doing this) was thrilled. She said she had left one there which someone took and she liked the idea of the wandering umbrellas.

Day 4 (24,813 steps)

Scuola San Rocco. We took our last vaporetto ride to visit Scuola San Rocco. (tickets are good for 24 hours on the clock not days). Later I found out that Jeff Bezos and his betrothed were to get married there the following weekend. I must admit it was only luck we were not in Venice then, as I was not tracking this. But apparently the venue was changed because the locals threatened to protest by clogging the canal with blow up alligators. So I must say I felt a bit of satisfaction that I visited and he did not.
There are over 60 paintings. The most fabulous part is the upstairs where the walls and ceilings are covered with paintings by Tintoretto. The building was constructed as a lay confraternity in 1478 and has hardly undergone any changes. The confraternity is still active and engages in its traditional charitable duties.

Padua

We took a noon train to Padua using tickets I had bought a couple days before on the Trenitalia ap. I highly recommend having the ap if you travel in Italy by train. I bought longer journeys ahead of time but regional ones (no difference in price by when you buy) once we were in Italy.

I had planned to stay in a hotel because we were only in Padua for two nights. But I couldn’t find anything reasonably priced, even nine months ahead of time. We ended up in air bnb halfway between St. Antony’s and the University. It was a good location, although we should have taken the tram there instead of walking the 20 minutes from the train station with luggage. We did take the tram back.

Piazza Erbe We walked here and wandered around, eventually had a spritz and some snacks. There are several Piazzas and a fairly large car free area. There are bikes though! Lots of bikes and it is not always clear where they are going to be. So be alert.

The astronomical clock is outstanding. You can actually climb it, and I considered making reservations. My husband was not as keen, especially since I could not find out how many steps there were. (but it wasn’t any higher than the tower we climbed on Torcello). But something cool to think about doing.

We actually went to this area three times. We arrived too late for the markets and so returned the next morning where I bought honey and pistachio pesto. That morning we also went to the Duomo where there were all these men with satchels and backpacks. One by one they changed in the church into vestments for mass! It turned out it was a feast day and there was going to be a mass (with a lot of priests) in honor. We did not stay because we had a tour of the university.

Scrovegni Chapel. I had made reservations for 7 pm and we arrived about 30 minutes early. You go into the gift shop and then are sent outside where there are lockers where you can leave your backpacks (can’t take them in). We did not have any coins so just put our backpacks in a locker (nothing valuable) but came back to them being gone. Turns out staff had taken them to the gift shop. All was well but perhaps better to travel with coins!

There were benches outside the chapel where we sat until our group was called. Then you go into a room where you watch a short but informative video. Then you are ushered into the chapel.
It was breathtaking. Sometimes you see a lot of pictures of something well known and when you see the real thing, it is somewhat anticlimactic. I felt that way about seeing the Grand Canyon. But the pictures just don’t capture the wonder of the chapel. It is simply awe inspiring. We had the standard 15 minute visit and for us, it worked. My neck was a bit sore by the time we were ushered out from looking up, I must admit.

Osteria Dal Capo We arrived here without a reservation on a Tuesday night about 7:45 pm and were able to be seated. We had a fabulous eggplant appetizer, pasta with sardines, and spinach and ricotta ravioli and mixed vegetables. The pasta with sardines wasn’t as much of a hit as the ravioli. With house wine and water, our bill was 57 Euros. I would recommend.

Day 5 (17,050 steps)
Tour of Palazzo Bo Universita di Padov-I bought tickets ahead of time online and overall it was worthwhile. I enjoyed seeing the university with the walls brightly decorated with crests. The tour guide was very good and the rivalry between Padua and Bologna was played up. The big disappointment was the anatomical theater. It is the original one which sounded so intriguing but you are able only to stand where the bodies would have been (and look up), not where the students would have stood (to look down). There is a replica you see before you go in but frankly the Rick Steves video on Padua gives you a better sense of it.

St. Anthony basilica We spent about an hour here wondering around. The high altar is by Donatello but generally I was not struck by the art. The chin and tongue St. Antony are displayed in a gold reliquary. I first encountered this tradition of displaying body parts of saints when I visited Europe in my early twenties. I must admit it seems as foreign to me now as it did then.

Padova Botanical GardenEstablished in 1545, this is the oldest university botanical garden in the world. It still preserves its original layout with a circular central plot. My husband is a horticulturalist so this was a must see. I enjoyed it too. We waited until late afternoon to go so the sun would be a little less blistering. This worked well. There is also a botanical museum that was interesting and since it was well air-conditioned, I probably spent more time than necessary there.

Afterwards, we walked back to Piazza Erbe and ended up with a gyro from a stand there for dinner.

Day 6
Ortisei (14,561 steps)

We moved on to Ortisei in the Dolomites today. That involved taking a train to Verona, train to Bolzano, and a bus to Ortisei.
We took a 9:16am train to Verona, changed to train to Bolzano where we arrived at11:56 am. We took a bus at 12:28 to Ortisei for about an hour ride. The bus stop was to the right of the entrance to the train station. All worked seamlessly. We got off at the bus station in Ortisei. There had been earlier stops where we would have saved ourselves some steps (and a hill).

We stayed at Garni Cittadella which I found on the Val Gardenia’s website. Where to stay was a major challenge. I wanted an apartment as I have arthritis in my foot and wanted access to a microwave and fridge to which would allow me to use heat in the morning and ice at night. I also wanted to be centrally located as I did not want to traverse a huge hill to do anything. This area has almost no listings on any of the major booking sites. So I spent hours combing through Val Gardinia’s website, calculating distance and terrain to the tourist information center. We ended up at Garni Cittadella (Zitadellastreet 10) which is a two star B & B on side of town as you come from Bolzano. They have two apartments and a small number of rooms. There is one hill to get into the center of town which is not huge and was probably inevitable in the mountains. They take credit cards which is rare in this part of the woods.
But the owner does not speak English but German. I translated everything using goggle translate and hoped I had a reservation. Online it said they would be a deposit but she told me we did not need to give one. So I was worried the whole time that this might not work out and I would have to find a place to stay on the fly.

But it did. We had the smaller apartment which was pretty small but it did have two bathrooms which turned out to be quite nice. It had previously been two hotel rooms. We had the option of paying for breakfast which we did for two mornings and really enjoyed. There is a yard with a picnic table and we ate the pasta I made with the pistachio pesto we bought in Padua and take out food there several days.

My husband speaks some German and he really enjoyed using it. I smiled lot! I would return here and many people we met in the breakfast room (it is small so everyone sorta talks to everyone) had been there before. I highly recommend if you are looking for a not fancy but clean and well-located place.

There are three different lifts you can take from Ortisei which is the prime reason I chose to stay here. There are also buses that take you to near by towns which we utilized. I was happy with our choice of staying in Ortisei.

We spent the rest of the day walking around finding the various lifts and buying a 3 day pass at the tourist office. It is 118 Euros for the pass which is a lot. You certainly do not need to have an unlimited pass but we enjoyed being able to take any lift we wanted.

There is a grocery store in the middle of town that we visited every day.

We had gorgeous weather for the most part for our entire stay—overnight lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s and lots of sun.

Day 7 (18,500 steps)

Rasciesa Ridge I had purchased the Barton’s book Walking in Italy’s Val Gardena and both it (hike #1) and the Tourist Bureau recommended starting with the Rasciesa Ridge. The funicular is more like a train so an easy start for those who don’t like to be suspended in air (like my husband).

You climb a bit of a hill and then there is a choice to go right or left. We went right. This was not the easier way. We ended up doing a whole loop around the area as opposed to a quick walk. It was not horribly difficult but not flat either. We saw families with children doing it. There is a look out point at the end that has beautiful views, although it is a bit of a climb.

We stopped for lunch at the Rifugio Rasciesa at about 1:00 in the afternoon (as opposed to a 30 minute walk had we gone left). The food was fabulous. We were so taken by having great tasting food with real utensils up on a mountain for a very reasonable sum. We ended up eating with two women we had talked to earlier when we all were trying to figure out which way to go after going the less traveled way. This made our lunch even more fun as we compared notes! We ended up running into them several times during our trip.

The route back to the funicular was totally flat and had a gorgeous view. So it is the way to go if you want a less challenging hike.

Alpe di Suisi We decided after we got back to Ortisei that since it was only 3 pm that we would take the funicular from town to Alpe di Suisi. This one was a gondola so had some sway compared to none for the one to Rasciesa. We then took a chair lift down to the meadow. This is where having the pass was really an advantage. There really was no reason for us to do this except I wanted to. My husband actually was not too keen but he also did not want to be left behind. The people working there tell you exactly what to do so it really wasn’t that challenging. We went down, looked around and then came back up as neither of us really wanted to do more hiking.

We spent most of our time enjoying the view sipping limoncello spritzes at the Refugio near the gondola. Life does not get much better than this!

We picked up calzones on the way back to our apartments and enjoyed those and a salad I made on the picnic table in the garden.

Day 8 (17,845 steps)

Col Raiser to Seceda The women we had lunch with the day before were going to do this today so that persuaded us. The Barton book had separate hikes for Seceda and Col Raiser but neither were very long. We decided to try to combine them as the hike the day before had been very manageable and it was not considered an “easier” hike in the Barton book. It other words, we got a bit cocky. As it turned out this was my least favorite day of hiking.

It started out well. We took a bus to the Col Raiser stop in St. Christina. The main bus stop is S. Antonio Square and you can ask the bus drivers if they go to your destination. We got off and crossed the street where there was a mini bus waiting. We asked and it was going to the Col Raiser lift. When we shared notes later with our luncheon friends, they were not as lucky. They went all over town before going back and up to Col Raiser. So ask if the next stop is Col Raiser rather than if it goes to Col Raiser.

The part of the day that was no fun was walking from the refugio to Seceda. It was a very narrow path which would have been ok except there was a constant stream of people coming the other way. Most people I think had started with Seceda. We kept letting them pass because there were so many more of them. It felt a bit like being on a one way street going the wrong way.

After arriving at the Seceda station, we parked ourselves at picnic table under the lift and just watched the crowds of people. It wasn’t even prime season yet but you would not know it. Eventually we made our way up the path to view Seceda but it was cloudy so we decided to wait to finish the trail and in the meantime take the chair lift down to the valley. Once we reached the valley, we went to another refugio and my husband had ice cream. By the time we had taken the chair lift back up, the sun had come out and the views were stupendous. I got some post card worthy shots.

Afterward, we ran into our luncheon friends at the Refugio by the funicular and shared notes. They had organized their day around visiting all the Refugios and had taken the chair lift that we had taken earlier up from the valley rather than walking as we did. It sounded like a much better route—that avoided the crowds and narrow trails we encountered. Our friends had also made a separate trip first thing in the morning to take pictures at Seceda before the crowds descended. As it turned out, late in the day worked just as well for us for picture taking.

We took the last funiculars of the day down from Seceda. It was two stage. First we took a cable car partway down the mountain. Then we walked over to a gondola station where we boarded and ended up back in Ortisei. It is pretty amazing how you can “ride” up and down the mountain.

We had some more pistachio pesto pasta for dinner but ended up eating indoors as it rained just as we were about to eat. But we could not complain as we had no rain while hiking. And after the rain, we went out and walked on some paths near where we were staying (all flat!)

Day 9 (17,846 steps)
Ciampinoi to Passo Sella and up on “coffin” lift

This was a marvelous day. We started by following directions for hike #12 in the Barton book. We took a bus to Selva Ciampinoi, the base station and took the lift up. The views were stupendous. We then took trail 21 down a very stony incline. There was no where to walk except over the stones. This bothered my foot which has arthritis more than the steeper inclines and declines we had done on the previous two days. I had to take an Aleve by the time we stopped for a snack less than an hour later at the Refugio.
We followed the signs for Rifugio Emilio Comici which was praised in the Barton book and not without reason. We had the best apple strudel we will ever have there. My husband did not want to share an apple strudel with me so we each had this huge piece with a dollop of whipped cream. We enjoyed it with a wonderful view of the Forcella Sasolungo. We did not order apple strudel again (having had it also the previous two days) as we thought any other strudel would not compare. It was an interesting place. Across from it were lots of people picnicking and resting on mats which were all the same color of blue. I realized at some point that the picnickers were using mats that were available to all. I thought this was such a remarkable thing. And then there were the toilets. You will have to visit.

After lunch we headed down another hill but this time I walked in the grass on a path that was intended for bicyclists (of which there were many) who did not want to brave the stony wider paths. My feet much preferred this way. Our destination was the famous coffin lifts which we had learned about from another traveler the day before. My husband was not wild about this but I was determined.

But before that there was another lift which took bicycles. There was a practice place where we saw three bicyclists put their bikes in so that they could do it quickly as the chair lift moved. They must have learned their lesson well because they did it quick enough for the pretty fast moving chair lift. We watched and then took the lift up. We were getting good at chair lifts by now, although they still made my husband a bit nervous.

It was then the most beautiful 20 minute walk to the coffin lifts. It was bright and sunny. The path was wide and with many fewer stones to bother my feet. It took us past Sasolungo and had great views of other mountains. We both enjoyed this very much.

We then saw the coffin lifts which take you up to Forcella Sassolungo. Basically, these are lifts that only hold two people that are vertical so they look a bit like moving coffins. They do not stop so you have to jump into them. There are people there who push you in if you aren’t fast enough. Now when we were on Capri in 2017 my husband did not want to do the lift up and I went along with it and we did something else. He thought that might happen again. But this time I told him I was going and he could wait at the bottom if he didn’t want to do it. Well, he didn’t want to do it but he doesn’t want to wait either. In the end he does it but his timing isn’t quite right so he gets a big push by the staff!

It is really an unique experience though. You are standing up the whole time and you have a view of everything. You go over all these rocks on the way up. There are people hiking up which looks like quite a lot. I might have done that in my 20s to save the cost of the funicular. Now older (so harder) and with a bit more money, this is the way to go.

At the top there is another Refugio and snow! We find a bench and eat the sandwiches we have brought. Then we traipsed through some snow to get a better view of the path coming up. There were a few people climbing up which did not look like a very good idea. I talked to a couple and they said it was fine to come up that way but would not be safe to go down. I assume they climbed down the other side which did not have snow. There also was a father and daughter practicing mountain climbing with ropes. She was only about 12 years old. At one point, she is about to descend and is obviously a bit nervous and he tells her not to think about it. She says it is too late!

The push my husband got to go down in the coffin car was much smaller than going up. So he was getting the hang of it. He had no desire to try it again though! (I did suggest it could be fun.)

We ended up taking a different lift down to a different bus stop in Plan which was after where we got off in the morning (further from Ortisei). Basically, instead of going back up to Rifugio Emilio Comici (which we could see up the hill we had earlier descended), we took two different lifts down. This is where the day passes are just so lovely. You do not have to think about cost in making your choices. There was a bus stop and people waiting and after only a few minutes we caught a bus back to Ortesei. It was an easier hike than returning the way we came.

Dinner at Bar 4 This was the only time we ate out in Ortisei as opposed to cooking or picking up calzones and/or pizza. It is right across from the church and so has very pleasant surroundings. We had to wait maybe 20 minutes for a table but there was a bench and we sipped the limoncello spritz we bought at the bar there (7.50 Euros as opposed to 5 at the refugio at Alpe di Suisi). The bill for the food was 71 Euros. While the food was good, it was more expensive to eat in town than in the Refugios and the bill was more than in Venice or Padua.

Day 10 (24,553 steps)

Alpe di Suisi from Compatsch. This is our last day in the Dolomites and we have used our 3 day passes for Val Gardena. We still have not hiked in the Alpe di Suisi—only drank lemoncello spritzes! So we head by bus toward Compatch to do the Hans & Paula Steger Nature Trail (#14 in the Barton book) which required a gondola not included in the Val Gardena pass. It was a lovely day despite a few mishaps.

While there are multiple buses we could have taken for the previous two days, only bus #172 will take you to the gondola you need-Cabinovia Alpe di Suisi. It is about a 40 minutes twisty ride so maybe not the best from Ortisei. I really wished I had brought Dramamine by the time we arrived. The gondola is touted as one of the most dramatic in the area but I basically just tried to survive getting up, promising myself I would enjoy the views on the way down.

The meadow is much more scenic from this vantage point than near Ortisei so after I recover I am very glad we made the trip.

The trail starts in town so we walk there and find the start. It is a lovely trail that goes across meadows crested by wild flowers and through woods. It is not very crowded and it thins out even more after a bus stop where you can take a bus back to Compatsch. We stop for lunch at Malfa Laranzer refugio for lunch where we both pivot to German food from Italian. While I am generally fonder of Italian, it was very well prepared and the terrace has a very nice view.

After lunch we continue on the trail for quite a while. At one point, it becomes a rocky road going down hill which is not as charming. Soon it is not marked very well and we hope we are going the right way, especially after there is a sign that says Saltria which is our end point. But the sign points into a ravine and we agree that our chances of coming out unscathed were not high. We decide the road we are on has to go somewhere and we will figure it out once we arrive. Later we see that the trail we did not follow joins the one we are on and that we are on the right trail (there are these intermittent information panels about the geology and fauna on the trail that provide reassurance). We eventually end up at a hotel in Saltria where my husband insists on having an ice cream. I want to get moving. Well, when we do move we miss the # 11 bus that we are supposed to take back to Compatsch to the gondola. The driver leaves after telling us we have to have a ticket (and points to the machine). We buy two (cash only) and wait for the next bus. But this bus driver is selling tickets to people. Sigh. The consequence of missing the earlier bus is that it starts raining and then blowing and then the gondola stops operating. The rain became torrential but fortunately by then we were waiting inside. Finally, after maybe 20 minutes the gondola starts operating. But the delays mean we miss the bus we intended to take back to Ortisei by a few minutes (our luck on buses has now started to turn). Fortunately, there is one more for the day but it is an hour wait. Otherwise, though we would have been hunting down an expensive taxi.

We arrived back in Ortisei to clear skies.

Day 11 (13,586 steps)
Malcesine (Lake Garda)

Today we move on to Lake Garda using a combination of bus, train and private transport.

We had packed the evening before and had breakfast at the B & B so we are moving pretty early. We see people waiting for the bus to Bolzano on the other side of the street near our place. We think briefly about joining them but continue onto St. Antony Square which is the main bus stop for Ortisei.

There is supposed to be a bus right before 10am that originates in Ortisei and another that comes shortly after that does not. The plan is to get a few more pictures and then take the first bus which would be less crowded, since it originates in Ortisei. But the first bus never shows up.

We get on the second. It is crowded and we do not get a seat but are standing half way back which is about as good as it gets if you have to stand. There is room there between the rows and it is easy to hang onto something. A kind man offers me his seat but I decline. I figure that I can stand as well as he. It is warm though and I take off the sweater and vest I am wearing.

When we were part way there people in the back start yelling in Italian. Turns out a woman has fainted from the heat (presumably). It is hotter in the back. The bus pulls into a town and she is carried off and her companion stays with her. We stay for awhile and some police come and talk to them. About 15 minutes later with her still laying on the ground, the bus leaves.

About 20 minutes later, my legs start to feel shaky. It gets worse and I am afraid I might collapse. I decide to ask the nice man who had offered me his seat earlier, if I could have it now. The woman next to him takes one look at me and gets up, telling me to take her seat because she is getting off at the next stop.

We make it there and I get off feeling pretty bad. My husband pulls both his and my suitcase and I follow him the best I can to the train station, hoping we will make our train. It turns out to be delayed by a few minutes so I have a chance to regroup.

In Malcesine we have private transit waiting for us. Thank goodness. It would have been two more buses had we not as I was not clever enough to check the public transit schedule before booking our accommodations. It would have been much easier to have stayed in Riva del Garda or elsewhere on the west side of the lake (as opposed to have had to change buses to get to Malcesine.)

We pick up the key to our place in the restaurant underneath our apartment. We really like our apartment. It is not fancy but large with a balcony overlooking the square and the lake which we use in the morning and evening. And there is a washing machine in the hallway outside our door which we utilize several times!

We don’t do a lot on our first day here. We end up at a bakery which is very well air-conditioned having pizza and coke sitting on a stool by the window which looks out on a court yard. (Malcesine is much hotter than the Dolomites—weather app says mid 80s but we must have gotten wimpy in the Dolomites because it feels hotter to us). After being fed, caffeinated, and cooled, I feel much better. We pick up ingredients for salads which I later put together for a light dinner. Afterwards, we walk along the lake and take in the castle and water views. We find out the place that the website for the town says has chairs and umbrellas to rent does not. I am very disappointed as I was counting on a beach day on the lake. I have little interest in sitting directly on a pebbly beach.

Day 12 (18,983 steps)
Limone and Riva del Garda

We take the first ferry of the day to Limone. The location of our apartment five minutes away makes that easy. We get there to buy tickets 20 minutes prior and have plenty of time to wait for the ferry. The sky has almost no clouds in it but still is more hazy than clear. Four years earlier we had been to Lake Como which was supposed to be hazy but had nothing but clear blue skies. Apparently, Lake Garda has some of the same propensity toward haze.

We arrive in Limone after a very short ferry ride. Both Limone and Malcesine have medieval streets which is very different than what we experienced in Lake Como which has been an upscale resort area since the 19th century. Lake Garda is a much more recent tourist destination (post war) and is dominated by German speaking tourists. So the architecture is Italian but we do not hear much more English here than we did in the Dolomites. In fact several times on the ferry boats we have other English speakers come up to us and make conversation when they hear my husband and me speaking to each other.

We disembark from the ferry but aren’t sure which way we ought to go. You turn left if you want a flat walk along the water. This is the path that gets very crowded mid day so if you arrive early, go that way first. The uphill way to the right we took instead had a church we were not able to enter and some beautiful views. Eventually, we turned around and retraced our steps and walked between the shops towards the lake.

Limonaia del Castel
Our destination is Limonaia del Castel which is a restored traditional lemon house from the early 18th century. There actually are lemon tiles on the ground that you can follow here which we do once you notice. Limone is quite hilly and the path to the lemon houses climbs too. We arrive before it opens at 10 am and sit on the step and wait, watching the people making their way to their day.

As a horticulturalist, my husband was fascinated but I found it interesting too. There are tiers of plants and a movie that explains the history of lemon growing in this most northerly location as well as the factors leading to its demise. There also are some beautiful views. It was only a few euros to get in and at least when we were there, it was not very crowded. I would highly recommend.

Olive oil factory
Our next destination was an Olive oil cooperative (Via Campaldo, 10). We ended up in the tourist information center to get directions. They sent us a way that goes up some big hills on a busy road that did not always have a sidewalk. The much better way (and how we came down) would be to walk along the lake (the path to the left as you get off the ferry) to the river which is where the path ends and take path up by the river. It would have been much more pleasant.

The olive oil factory closes from 12-2 pm. There is a store next to it that has many of the same products in it. There is a film in Italian but dubbed in German that my husband watched. There is historical equipment and tools much like a museum as well as modern equipment. And a really nice store where we bought too much. There is olive oil, of course, but also soaps and lotions and beautiful unusual cutting boards and some gorgeous wooden salad utensils.

We walked back by the path next to the river and found at the bottom a rocky beach with a small shop renting beach equipment. We decided to return the next day to take advantage of it since nothing seemed to be available in Malcesine.

The path back to the ferry at midday was unpleasantly crowded. We persevered and took the ferry to Riva Del Garda.

Riva Del Garda
Parco Grotta Cascata Varone

We had learned though from some other tourists about this waterfall park. It was a hot day so getting sprayed with water seemed like a really good idea.

We first got lunch at a place some distance away from where the ferry left us off. Riva del Garda has much wider streets and seems much more modern than the other two towns we had visited. It was easier to navigate and I can see it could serve as a good base for day trips. It was charming in its own way but seemed like a much more typical tourist beach town, although it actually wasn’t as crowded.

The tourist bureau told us what bus to take and we found the bus stop without much problem. The bus stopped at the park so it wasn’t hard to figure out where to get off. At one point we toyed with walking. That would not have been a good idea.

The tickets were 7 Euros and the park had well landscaped paths and multiple water falls. Some of the waterfalls were really stunning. There were rain coats you could wear so you would not get wet as it was almost impossible to avoid the water. We did not wear one as getting wet was a good way to cope with a hot day. We stayed about an hour. We really enjoyed it and would recommend.

We went out to a nice dinner in Mascenine that night but I did not write down the name of it. The food was good but the most memorable thing was the conversation with the waiter. My husband was practicing his German with the waiter. I do not speak a word of German so I asked for something in English. The waiter commented that my English was really good. He asked me where did I learn it!!!!

Day 13 (10,453 steps)

Limone beach
I really wanted a day on the beach to do very little. We had a busy schedule planned for our next stop, Bologna, but more importantly I was going on to a work conference in Athens. I wanted a chance to recharge first.

We arrived at the beach in time to not only chairs and an umbrella but a spot in the shade of a tree. We didn’t do a lot. Went in the water some and read a book. Had a picnic lunch and later spritzes in a nearby restaurant.

There were public restrooms nearby. The only challenging thing is they were squat toilets. There was one marked for handicapped and when we were in Menaggio at Lake Como that one was a standard toilet. Not in Limone! In the handicapped one, all you got was a bar to assist you with the act of squatting. I was very thankful for my Pilates class!

Late afternoon we made our way back to the ferry station, stopping along the way for some lemoncello to take home. We found out though that our tickets were not the right ones for the ferry I thought we would take. It was another 45 minutes until the “right” ferry came. So what can you do but go have some gelato!

There were some boats in Malcesine which went only back and forth to Limone. They were a few euros more than the regular ferry. But I suspect you might have to wait less so something to consider.

Day 14 (13,781 steps)
*Bologna

This morning we took the car service back to Roverto to catch the train to Bologna.
We have reserved seats on the train -right in the middle of drinking, card playing, singing young German men wearing orange construction vests. When I come back from investigating other seating options, my husband has acquired two cans of beer from one of the men who struck up a conversation with him. My husband asked him where they are going but the beer sharer does not know!

We move to next car when the train stops but see our friends get off the train with us in Bologna!

It is beastly hot with temperatures well into the 90s when we arrive in the middle of the afternoon. The weather does not break until after we have left.

We are staying at an apartment about half way between the train station and Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza in the city. It works well for us. We appreciate its proximity to the train station as we take two day trips while we are here. The apartment is located close enough to the tourist area that we are able to easily return to the air conditioned apartment for a break from the heat and go out again a few hours later when the sun is less intense.

Bologna is not a polished city. There is, for example, graffiti everywhere. It is a little odd to see graffiti and granite and marble tiles for sidewalks but such is the character of Bologna. A park we wander through looks a bit unkept. We like it though and find it a nice contrast to the perfection of the tourist towns of Ortisei and Malcescine.

We mostly walked around that first day enjoying the porticos for which Bolonga is famous which provided shade from the searing sun.

Dinner at Sfoglia Rina. This pasta restaurant was recommended on a blog by Taste Bologna who we took a tour with the next day. The recommendation was to arrive by 7pm which we did and were promptly seated. When we left about 8:30 pm and there was a long line in the street of people wanting to get in. This is a very reasonably priced restaurant which makes its own pasta. The menu is on the wall. I had a beet and pasta dish which was just ok while my husband had a very good lasagna.

Day 15 (16,566 steps)

Classic Bologna food tour booked directly with Taste Bologna. We have never taken a food tour but since food is what Bologna is most known for, we indulge. It is 89 Euros each. On Saturday the tour starts at 9:30 am. It starts with our small group sitting outside at a table at a coffee house. At this point, I must admit I am bored. I am not a coffee drinker and the service seems very slow. And I thought our guide could have done more to encourage us to interact with each other.

But it gets better. We go to a pasta shop and see the pasta being made by hand and try our hand at it. Neither my husband or I are very successful. It is harder than it looks. We visit a market where we have tortellini in brodo which is simply amazing. I have never tasted anything like it. We shop our lunch by visiting shops selling various meats, cheeses, and bread. We have lunch at Osteria del Sole which is a wine bar. Basically, our guide has reserved a long table where we enjoy the meats, cheeses, and bread he purchased along the way along with other local specialties like balsamic vinegar. The local meats are unlike anything we have ever tasted. And then there were the local wines. It is a fun place that seems like it is a step into the past. This feeling is reinforced by a visit to the bathrooms which like Limone are the traditional squat ones! It is worth a visit whether you take a tour or not.

Afterwards, we walked to what our guide said was the best gelato in Bologna—Cremeria Santo Stefano. Let’s say it was good enough that we came back another night!

Sights in Bologna

The University of Bologna- I was unable to find a tour that wasn’t more than I wanted to pay. We had visited with a guide in Padua so we decided to visit Padua’s rival without one. There is a small fee to visit the anatomical theater and the library. I enjoyed visiting Bologna’s anatomical theater much more than Padua’s. While it wasn’t the original, you could get a much better sense of what it would be like to be a student observing dissecting. What I remember most about the library is that it was well air-conditioned! We were really starting to wilt and just sat there and looked at all the family crests on the walls.

Basilica di San Petronio-this church anchors Piazza Maggiore. The exterior is only half finished which gives it an unusual appearance with the top being brick and the bottom marble while the interior is characterized by huge pillars. We grew to appreciate it. The most interesting thing was the way the piazza was being used when we were there. There was a cultural festival that included film that people gathered for. There was a stage and the piazza was filled with folding chairs set up. We sat in a couple our second night and just watched as various community people welcomed the crowd, speaking variously in Italian and English. Once the film started (black and white and dubbed), we gave up our seats to two people standing. I was struck by the sense of community and how accessible this event was with no traffic jams and no having to arrive hours early to get a seat.

Santo Stefano Complex—this is also known as the seven churches. It is located on Piazza Santo Stefano (near the gelato shop!). It merges several different buildings constructed across different time periods into one structure. It is an unusual structure and well worth visiting. It is in the same area of Cremeria Santo Stefano--the gelato shop we visited on our food tour (above) if you want to combine two different aspects of Italian culture together.

Dinner at Vicola Columbino Our guide recommended this restaurant and I was able to get a reservation for 7 pm that Saturday evening. It was the only night we had a “full” Italian dinner with a primi and seconda each and wine. It was fabulous but a lot to eat. On our guided tour we were told that the portions were small and that is how Italians can eat so many courses. That wasn’t our experience as our courses were plenty generous. Our bill was 91 Euros.

Day 16 (27,254 steps)

Ravenna day trip

We took the 8:03am train to Ravenna for a 10:10 guided tour of the mosaics I had booked the night before. The train was packed with standing room only. It looked like most people were going to the beach.
The tour we took was priced at 28 Euros each and included entry to five UNESCO sites which are fairly spread out so some walking. https://www.ravennaexperience.it/en_GB/activity/187267/mosaic-tiles-guided-tour-of-unesco-monuments-in-ravenna
There were about 10 people on the tour but only one other couple from US. Others were from Canada, Ireland, and Australia.

Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman empire in the fifth century and is home to eight UNESCO sites. It is best known for its 1500 year old Byzantine mosaics which I have wanted to see ever since I saw the Rick Steves’ TV episode that included Ravenna. They were as amazing as I hoped. It is really something to ponder how the churches were constructed and decorated so many years ago. At one point, I asked the guide if any of the tiles were reconstructions. She pointed to a small area on the ceiling and explained how you could tell. I found it unbelievable that the mosaics had been preserved so well.

After a picnic lunch on a bench in a park, we went to a second baptistry and the “new” cathedral (like 1200!). The cathedral had water in the crypt that had seeped in from the sea which you could pay an Euro to illuminate. There were fish!!

Before taking the 3:43 train back to Bologna, we visited Mercato Coperto which is an indoor market with restaurants. Most important at the time, it is airconditioned! We sat at one of the long tables enjoying some quiche that we bought.

I was surprised how run down Ravenna seemed. The guide we had said that the internet had wrecked havoc on the town, driving many local shops out of business. Bologna had a bit of a grungy side but it seemed bustling with locals and visitors.

Dinner at Osteria dell Orsa This was in the university district which was particularly decorated with graffiti. We had wine and snacks in our apartment after returning to rest and cool down so were not hungry enough for a multi course dinner. We figured a student area would not expect that. We had two well prepared pastas and 2 waters for 25 Euros. We saved room for gelato afterwards!

Day 17 (19,400 steps)
Day trip to Parma with tour of Parmigiano Reggiano factory

This is our last day in Italy. We had wanted to get an inside look at how some of the food products this region is famous for are made. Italian Days is often recommended but the price tag of over 200 Euros each was more than I wanted to pay. So I looked for alternatives. We ended up doing a Parmigiano Reggiano factory tour at Caseificio Ugolotti in Parma which was reachable from Bologna by train and then bus.

https://www.caseificiougolotti.com/visite/

It was 54 Euros each for the tour, tastings, and lunch. It would have been 26 Euros without lunch. The tasting included three different aged cheeses with moderna vinegar and wine as well as parma ham. The lunch was fabulous and included choice of dishes, wine, and desert. We did the 10:30 am tour.

This was one of my favorite things we did on our two week plus trip. It is a small family owned place which hires a cheese master since the three daughters who now own it (it was their father’s) are most interested in the selling the products and the restaurant. The wife of the cheese master who speaks perfect English does the tour. I asked how you get to be a cheese master—apparently you just have to convince someone you are one and be hired. No particular certifications. But there are strict government controls that may cost you your job. The cheese is inspected and 90% (I think) has to pass this inspection or you can’t sell any of it as Parmigiano Reggiano! Anyway, you get to go into where the cheese is made, aged, and stored and we saw the men moving the cheese from huge containers where it starts to the molds (use a machine). It is one of those tours that you could never do in the U.S.

We took the 8:18 am train from Bologna and could not locate the 23 bus so took a taxi. The bus stop turns out is down the hill in front of the train station. We took a taxi on the side of the train station. Coming back, we took the bus from the stop right in front of the cheese factory. We got off in town to explore Parma.

It was well into the 90s so not ideal weather for walking around. We only lasted a few hours. Parma looked like a very pleasant town. It had a different feel from Bologna—far less urban with no graffiti. We went into various churches along the way with our favorite being the Cathedral which was bright blues. We could have spent more time there.

Dinner at To Steki. This is the Greek restaurant that we dined at, having had pasta already for lunch. I was moving on to Greece so it seemed fitting in that way. The food was good and reasonably priced. You are asked as you enter whether you realize they do not serve pasta!!

Day 18

Today we leave Italy with my husband going home via Zurich and I going to Athens via Rome. We end up walking to the train station and taking a taxi to the airport from there which was only about 20 Euros. This is less than it would have been for two of us to take the Marconi Express which goes to the airport from the train station. We would have simplified things by taking a taxi from our apartment but we couldn’t get the recommended taxi app to work.

The Bologna airport is small and we end up with a lot of extra time even after my husband checked his bags for the trip home. I sent home stuff with him that I would not need in Athens! And we had bought a lot in Italy which we usually do not but somehow could not resist this time.

It was a great trip and there are few things other than leaving some cold weather clothes at home that I would have done differently.

So very sorry for your loss. Grazie mille for such a fabulous report.

Wow, Beth! Quite a thorough and interesting trip report!

I a, delighted you used our book, which does detail the direction to go to Rifugio Rasciesa and it is on the map. Was it confusing to you? Something I should correct?

So glad you made it to Passo Sella and the “coffin lift” which we thought looked rather like flying refrigerators!

I enjoyed your report very much because I like your "Reality-Check" style. I visited Venice long ago when I was a College Art Student. I had wondered about Bologna and Ravenna, but I'm sad to hear about the over-tourism and graffiti. Eating out seems expensive, especially since I am a light eater. Are there Delis and Sandwich shops? Oh, well, I won't be going too far from home anymore, but it was fun to travel with you via your report! Wishing you the Best!

What an enjoyable trip report! I loved so much of it, but I'll admit that the morning gelato, wandering umbrellas, and handmade pasta being harder than it looks were my favorite parts lol.

Thank you for sharing with us about your mom passing. I'm holding you close to my heart. The pain is the love.

A great trip report with all the costs and details and food. Someday I hope to get back to the Dolomites and you’ve convinced me to get the Barton book. That whole portion of the trip sounds heavenly. Thank you Beth!

Thanks for sharing, it sounds like a well planned trip!

BethFL, first, a big hug being sent to you as you grieve the loss of your mom.

I enjoyed your wonderful trip report with the details! I’m reading it from Bologna where thankfully it’s not 90 degrees today, although humid. You described it well - the graffiti but looking beyond it. ; ).

I am very sad to read that Ravenna is not looking as nice as when I stayed there a few nights in 2018 & brought my daughter for a day trip in 2022. I hope the cruise ships nearby aren’t making it permanently something it’s not intended to be.

Thanks again for sharing!